Diabetes, one of the nation’s fastest growing health problems, adds an extra $1.6 billion every year to hospitalizations in California, the researchers found. Patients with diabetes cost nearly $2,200 more per hospital stay than those without diabetes, according to the study.

Three-quarters of that care is paid for through Medicare, the federal health program for seniors, and Medi-Cal, which covers the state’s poor and disabled.

The researchers conducted the study by reviewing 2011 state-reported hospital discharge and financial data. They noted diabetes was listed as the primary cause in only 1.7 percent of the hospitalizations, although diabetes is associated with a number of conditions that lead to frequent health problems.